Wednesday, June 5, 2013

stay at home mommy

Yesterday I had so much that I wanted to do. I wanted a productive and intentional day with this little role I play in our home called stay-at (sometimes work-from)-home mommy.

So to begin my soon-to-be ahem...productive day, I sat down at my computer to check my email...
That email led me to Pinterest, and Pinterest led me to someone's blog, and after I thoroughly stalked that blog, I decided to check out her Etsy shop. I repeated this cycle about 5 times (and then add Facebook and Instagram in to the mix), and before I knew it, it was 3pm and Jeff was on his way home from work.

Does this sound familiar? Or is it just me, mommas?

I didn't spend time with Jesus. The house was a WRECK. I had only eaten a cereal bar all day. I crossed nothing off my to-do list. And left Ella playing on her own for way too long. As I frantically tried to pick up a few things before he walked in the door, guilt and stress set in. I immediately regretted my wasted day and wished there was a restart button! Bah!

So today, while still feeling pretty horrible about yesterday, I decided to design a fun daily page to help me live intentionally.


I wanted to challenge you stay-at-home mommies to do the same! 
You can download the "Living Intentionally" page here! Yay! For personal use only.

My thoughts behind each section:
"Morning Musts"
1. Make the bed, please! Just do it... right after you get up. Simple. Easy. Makes a world of a difference. And you get to check off a box! Yipee!
2. Shower and dress. It just makes me feel a little more motivated to tackle those to-dos!
I usually just throw on a tank top and some cute cropped leggings (if I'm staying in my house... I know what you were thinking. ;)). Still so comfy, and they're not your pjs. 
3. Plan your day! Check! :)
4. Time with Jesus. With a baby this tends to be cut short, at times, so right underneath it I put a place to write down a verse that really stood out to me- that way I could write it down which helps it sink in and I'll get to come back to it through out the day as I write down or check off things. 

"Setting Boundaries on Social Media"
This was essential for me- obviously! There are two check boxes by each social media icon, so you can only get on there twice. Is it ridiculous that I wouldn't dare to put just one box? YES! 
I am NOT, however, challenging you to get on each of these twice. Haha. I wanted to put a time limit on the boxes, but I'll give you free reign over that. I will challenge you to challenge yourself! If you check 8 boxes, try only checking off six the next week.
I'll be honest, I definitely failed this section today. You may too. Be gracious with yourself and try again.

"To-Do"
Cook. Clean. Organize. Work on. Etc. 
Try to get these done before your husband gets home, so you can have some quality time with him!

"Make Memories"
Don't let them grow before your eyes without special, intentional, sweet, and planned moments! 
Read a book. Play outside. Kiss and Cuddle (my favorite). Tickle time.
Make sure those planned moments are uninterrupted, and that you are all there. Not just physically. Put your phone away in a drawer and in a different room... along with your computer. One day you'll want your little one who (fast forward several years) is now a teenager to put the phone away and get off the computer. Will you be a good example of how to do that? 

"A Little You"
DO NOT SPEND THIS ON SOCIAL MEDIA! This section is to make you feel relaxed. Do you ever leave Facebook and say to yourself "Ah, that was soo... refreshing!" Nope. How about Instagram? Let's be honest, it's a waste. But we do it anyway, so that's why we set boundaries earlier.
I really wanted this section to be fun/productive for us! It can be anything from "Pluck my eyebrows and paint my nails" to "Learn how to do something I've always wanted to do." Try a DIY craft. Read a fun book. Write a note to a friend!
I didn't put check off boxes because I didn't want to add pressure to our relax time!

If you try this, please let me know how it goes! Or if you have some amazing ideas that I most likely missed, do share. And if you feel guilty for wasting time reading all of this, print the page, close the computer, and put some intentionality in to your day. :)

P.S. If there are more grammatical errors than usual, it's because I stayed up way too late trying to get this up for you. :)

P.S.S. After I designed this, I though it would be a brilliant idea to stick it in a frame and use a thin point dry erase marker! We may need more writing space though... If you'd like to try it let me know, and I'll redesign it for us!

13 comments:

  1. Girl, this is an awesome idea for my off days, and I don't even have a baby! ;) So, so proud of you and your choice to be intentional in your day to day life. Such a good example for baby girl!

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  2. This is fantastic!! I will definitely be using it. It has just the right balance of everything I need. Plus, I really like that frame idea. Saves paper and ink ;) Love you!!

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  3. This is just what I have been looking for. Printing now! Thank you.

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    1. I don't know how I missed this, but I hope it's been helpful!!

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  4. I am a stay at home mommy to a 4 year old (who will be starting preschool in a few days) and a 2 year old. Your first section describes me and my days EXACTLY. I was never sure of a way to help me in the areas I'm lacking and this is PERFECT. Thank you so much for creating this wonderful page!

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    1. Yay!! Has it worked?! Somedays are harder than other to sticking to it, right?

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  5. Thank you SO much for posting and sharing this! I am a new mom (10 weeks today my precious one was born) and I've been needing something to help me stay focused/on-task during the day. I was looking online all night for something like this, and I am so thankful I found yours. So simple and easy, yet so intentional and convicting. Thanks again and God bless!

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  6. I LOVE this! I'm always looking for the perfect list to keep me on track and you have just nailed it. Thank you thank you thank you!

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    1. My absolute pleasure, Andrea! Hope it is so helpful for you! :)

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  7. just printed this. I am so happy that I can keep myself motivated enough to follow through with this. My daughter just turned 3 and I want to get her started learning before preschool next year and I honestly get lost on pinterest looking at learning activities then other things and then I some how find my way to netflix! I also have a habit of playing games on my phone so after I printed it out I drew a section on the social media box for my games and added 2 check boxes. I hope I stay motivated. I don't have a way to keep it as a dry erase reusable thing right now and I just used the last of my printer ink (ooops....) so I am going to have to draw one up of my own till I can get to the store and buy another one and something to use to make it reusable. I really hope I can get myself motivated to use this because I need it in my home.

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  8. I LOVE this!!! Thank you for still having this available! You're inspiring.

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